Thursday, May 17, 2012

So we talked generic yesterday.... Now let's talk family gatherings today.

Beth and Emma on "Bake-a-Memory Day"
I've got a crew coming in this weekend.

Do you plan?

Over-plan?

Go with the flow?

Do you notify the local sheriff's office, just in case?  :)

Do you wash sheets on un-used beds????

Do you even USE sheets????  LOL!

Karen and Anna-Banana on Anna's first birthday...


Do you cook or order in?

Do you make favorite desserts??? (Guilty, guilty, guilty!!!!)

This is a grilling weekend for us. Luke's coming to town, (Youngest Finance Boy) he's living in Boston, in an apartment, and never gets the chance to just hang and grill... So we're cooking up a storm for him!  And buying him groceries. Because food in Boston is crazy expensive, ala NYC, Phillie, etc.

Give me advice or share your ideas! I'm totally open to suggestion!

12 comments:

  1. Oh, well, since you're open to suggestions, Ruthy, here's one: toss a tofu burger or two on the grill and feed that to your starving finance boy! Nothing like a good vegetarian chow down for a long weekend. :-) We have Victoria Day up here. What's your holiday?

    Oh -- and we always go overboard on desserts. Never just one. You have to make at least three because everyone has a different favourite. Of course we all say we'll just have one serving of our favourite but it never works out that way. Oy!

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    1. Oh, desserts and overboard go hand-in-hand, Kav!!! :) Great minds think alike!

      Tofu burger????

      Would my grill react badly to that? Be insulted???? ;)

      Kav, I may just try it! This isn't a holiday here, it just happens to be when finance boy had a few free days. And golf is way cheaper here than in Boston and his mother will FEED him.

      All good reasons to come home, right???

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  2. How fun, Ruthy!!! We usually plan to eat one dinner out when we have everyone home or grandparents visiting. Then we do sandwiches for lunch. And I usually try to cook one nice meal. It ends up being something easy for a crowd like spaghetti.

    But a crowd for me is probably an intimate dinner for you!! LOL So my suggestions probably wouldn't work. :)

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    1. Missy, I love your ideas... Eating out is such a treat for me.

      But these young guys eat out all the time, so when they come home they want home cookin'... That's life in a big city, single. No sweet Mama cookin' up a storm for them.

      When lawyer boy called me on Mother's Day he wanted to know what we made, so I told him. Rotisserie chicken, steaks on the grill, sausage.... Hot potato salad, grilled asparagus, banana cream pie and stuffed strawberry croissants...

      His reply?

      "You guys eat like kings."

      And that's what it seems like to these youngun's in the big city where food is just crazy expensive.

      And Zach's like me. He'd rather write than cook. We have that in common!

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    2. Well, Nick's been eating amazing food at the Duke Great Hall. I've eaten there while visiting him and was amazed--better than most restaurant food! So he hasn't felt the need. BUT, now that he's graduated and doing his own cooking, it may be different when he comes home! LOL I imagine he'll have special requests. :)

      It's fun, though, that he inherited my enjoyment of cooking. He sometimes texts me and asks how to make things. :)

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  3. Hot potato salad?! What is that?

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  4. Ruthy, you're living the dream. Between moving so much and aging family, we haven't done a family gathering for years (only a funeral, but that doesn't count).

    BUT - With our kids moving in over the next couple weeks, the whole summer is going to feel like one big family gathering!

    Whenever my oldest is at home, he always wants me to make his favorites from when he was a kid - burgers on the grill, spaghetti, and "the orange stuff" (ground beef, cream cheese, ketchup, biscuits - it really doesn't look appetizing, but it tastes good!).

    I'm looking forward to the years ahead - hopefully the children will stay close enough to come home often. And hopefully, one of them might get married someday. We might even have grandchildren....

    But until then, we'll just enjoy what we have! The next few months are going to be a blast :)

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    1. Oh, Jan, that sounds wonderful! And when you get sick of cooking for the lot of 'em, call me... We'll commiserate!

      Who's moving home? We've had that happen. I've learned two very important lessons:

      1. They can move in, but their big stuff stays in a pod or a storage unit. That was the downside, having too much 'stuff' and no organization.

      2. I can't remember #2.... Obviously the STUFF issue was enough to remember. I'm old. ;)

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  5. Ruthy, we rarely take the whole crew out because A)there are just too stinkin many of us and B)because I like to cook for them. My middle daughter always requests chicken fried steak. Sometimes I'll smoke a brisket ahead of time, cook up a big pot of bean, etc, but we like grilling too. Heck, we do it year-round. One of the benefits of a milder climate. Of course, come about July, we don't even have to turn it on. We just throw the meat on the grate and let mother nature do the cooking :-)

    And desserts...well, that goes without saying.

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    1. So far this morning (and I messed up Teeeeena's WE because I was LATE so I'm in DEEP TROUBLE..... I made carrot cake and oatmeal cake and cookie dough.

      So writing got put on hold for the morning.

      Baking won.

      But I love WRITING!!!!!

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    2. Ruthy, I'm glad I'm not the only one to mess up for poor Tina!! LOL

      But you know, the reminder she sent out sounded like YOU! I think she tried to fake us out, to cover for you. :)

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  6. ok im late. (well not really cos I just got here but)
    When my brother would come home you would think the prodigal son had come home. Mum would cook a leg of lamb roast even if it was 100 degrees! He use to come home in summer to play tennis so would have to have the lamb roast, she would stock up on icecream have plenty of buns (not sure what you call them but they are in a scroll and have dried fruit in them. a little like hot cross buns). Biscuits/cookies, cake, She always had cake chocolate, plain, lamingtons etc. She always had cake and slices in the freezer and made buns at least once a week and make 4 rounds which had 8 in a round I think. She was always baking. I loved the dough. She normally had curry for him too with lamb chops. Oh and she always sent him home with baked goods. I have to say I miss the bun dough and pie dough. I dont eat these things so don't make them.

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